Long Time No See, Uncle Kate

"So Garrod's people were all wiped out?"

The man with short brownish-gold hair, dressed in a pure white formal suit, leaned back in a soft leather chair and looked up at the Black Clothed Man standing before him with his head lowered.

"Yes. By the time we arrived, there were no survivors. Everyone had been shot in vital areas, killed with a single bullet. We found a body believed to be Mr. Garrod's in an alley. He appeared to have taken a Hand Grenade explosion head-on. By the time we found him, he had been blown into several pieces."

The Black Clothed Man explained quickly.

"The Priest we sent is dead too? There wasn't a single living witness?"

The man in white frowned slightly.

"The place Mr. Garrod chose was territory completely under his control."

The Black Clothed Man paused, then slowly said, "His people were all around the area. Priest was impaled on a Steel Rod and propped upright against the ground. By the time we arrived, it was already over."

"Useless trash!"

The man in white sat upright and slammed a palm onto the desk in front of him.

With a booming explosion, the heavy-looking solid wood desk abruptly burst apart, shattering into countless fragments that struck the surrounding walls and even the Black Clothed Man.

Even so, the Black Clothed Man kept his head lowered and said nothing.

"Who do you think did it?"

The man in white rose to his feet and rubbed his brow. "That 'Ilo' Garrod mentioned? A vegetative child who fell into the Storm Sea?"

"At the scene..."

The Black Clothed Man paused before finally saying, "We found footprints that may have belonged to a child, as well as tire tracks from an off-road vehicle and a taxi."

"You mean to say—"

The